MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Study heralds gov't will change hands this year in Argentina

JxC looks poised to win this year's presidential elections in Argentina. But will it be Larreta, Bullrich or Macri?

Argentina's opposition Together for Change (Juntos por el Cambio - JxC) coalition would beat the ruling Everbody's Front (Frente de Todos - FdT) alliance at the Simultaneous, Open and Mandatory Primary (PASO) elections in August by between 10 to 12 percentage points, according to a poll by Opina Argentina published Tuesday in Buenos Aires. The Libertarian movement of Congressman Javier Milei would come in third, the study also showed.

According to the survey published Tuesday by Clarín, Argentines were concerned over the steady inflation, with 58% of respondents foreseeing further increases in retail prices.

PRO Chairwoman and former Security Minister Patricia Bullrich topped the study's list with 51% positive image followed by Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta (49%) and Martín Lousteau (45%). These are also the only three leaders with a positive balance.

On the FdT camp, Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (CFK) had 16% of positive votes, while President Alberto Fernández and Economy Minister Sergio Massa had 6% of favorable votes each.

In CFK chooses not to run, Massa's approval soars to 20%, the survey also showed, with Interior Minister Wado De Pedro chipping in another 6%, still 12% behind JxC.

Milei would get 16% of the votes, with small leftwing parties getting the rest of the votes, the poll showed.

Analysts in Buenos Aires are considering a possible scenario in which the FdT regards defeat as inevitable and would therefore do very little until the end of the year to make things as hard as possible for the incoming administration.

The FdT is also going through a crisis in which hardline Kirchnerites would not endorse Alberto Fernández's reelection bid, while JxC is yet to determine if former President Mauricio Macri will seek a new term in office.